Wound Care Kit, a realistic alternative...

Don Rearic

Don Rearic

Joined
Oct 8, 1998
Messages
8,917
I posted this about a year and a half ago in the Wilderness/Survival Forum.

There seems to be a trend to guide people away from readily available and proper gear and point them in the direction of fish hooks for sutures.

Uh...yeah...well...don't do that. :)


Wound, Immediate Closure Kit - WICK

3M Steri-Strips, 2 Packs of 3 each, 1/4" X 3"

3M Steri-Strips, 1 Pack of 10 each, 1/4" X 4"

3M Steri-Strips, 1 Pack of 6 each, 1/2" X 4"

3M Tegaderm Patch, 2 Packs of 1 each, 2 3/8" X 2 3/4"

Dermabond Topical Skin Adhesive, 1 Tube, 0.5 ml

Kendall Vaseline Petrolatum Gauze, 2 Packs of 1 each, 3" X 9"

Fingertip Bandage, 2 Packs of 1 each, 1 3/4" X 2"

Elastic Strip "Band-Aid," 3 Packs of 1 each, 7/8" X 3"

Fabric Knuckle Bandage, 4 Packs of 1 each, 1 1/2" X 3"

Fabric Large Patch Bandage, 1 Pack of 1 each, 2" X 3"

Povidone-Iodine Prep Pad, 8 Packs of 1 each

Hydrocortisone Cream, 1 Packet, 1/32 Oz.

Triple Antibiotic Ointment, 2 Packets, 1/32 Oz.

Water-Jel Burn Jel, 2 Packets, 1/8 Oz.

ALOKSAK Bag, 4.5" X 7"









3M Steri-Strips work incredibly well. I just patched a ceramic tile cut on my Wife's finger last week and after just rinsing with water and scrubbing it with a Povidone Prep Pad and closing it with a Steri-Strip, it healed amazingly well. It was a real bleeder and after thoroughly rinsing in clean water, it simply would not stop bleeding. So, we scrubbed it with the Povidone and closed it immediately afterwards and put a dressing over it. It bled through immediately but she kept the dressing on for over 12 hours so it was not disturbed and had time to clot.

3M Tegaderm Dressings are also highly recommended. They provide an excellent barrier to contaminates and still breathe - they are incredibly more advanced for protecting wound sites compared to regular dressings.

If you want to downsize this already small kit, you could go with 2 3M Tegaderm Dressings, cut the Povidone-Iodine Prep Pads by half and go with the 3M Steri-Strips where you get 10 strips that are 1/4" X 4" each.

Assorted knuckle and fingertip bandages along with regular types of "Band-Aid" bandages can patch up a lot of stuff and keep it clean.

There are three basic reasons to suture a wound:

1. To stop bleeding.
2. To keep the wound from becoming larger by movement.
3. Cosmetic reasons, less scarring, etc.

This kit offers a real and very effective alternative to suturing yourself. It's also an intelligent alternative to the suggestions of using any form of tape to close wounds which is begging for an infection that you do not need during a critical time. I don't want an infected cut in the best of times but when you have to be your own medic out in the woods, you definitely do not want to follow the advice of people too cheap or ignorant to spend about $10.00 on Steri-Strips, Povidone Prep Pads and some good bandages, etc.

The Water-Jel Burn Jel is included because anyone can get a nasty burn when handling various cooking cups, pots, utensils, etc. It works very well, kills pain quickly.

If you want to expand the kit, making it about 25% larger, you could include a small bottle of Systane, which is an eye-wash and lubricant, a small 5 Gram Tube of Lidocaine, three packs of Ethicon or other sutures with cutting needles, a tube of antibiotic eye ointment and perhaps a small tube of Oragel which is a benzocaine-based pain killer.
 
That's a damn good patch up kit Don! I first heard about the 3M Steri-strips from you and ever since then I've bought quite a few for first aid kits and survival kits. The Tegaderm dressings are also a great thing to have, by being able to seal off your wound and keep it clean. Nice thread!
 
That's a great list!

I especially like steering people away from giving themselves sutures - what a terrible way to develop secondary infection or develop heavy tissue damage.

I noticed nothing for stopping really heavy/traumatic bleeding - like Celox or anything - is there a reason or was this just to keep it in line with most people's first aid preparedness levels?

I've read about (never used, thankfully!) packing a heavy wound with sugar to stop dramatic blood loss and prevent infection as well - an old Bonesaw trick (but they had a lot of techniques that are NOT to be duplicated!).

One thing (I need to do it myself) to add to the first aid kit are a few feminine hygiene pads and a couple tampons. They're [relatively] safe for internal use and can help stop blood flow really well (get the unbleached cotton variety of tampon - reduces the chance of toxic shock).
 
Like I said, that was from a year and a half ago. So were the pics. I have a handy-dandy packet of hemosatic agent from a ESEE Kit that will fit into it. My larger pack of QuickClot would not. :D
 
Oh, forgot to add. I have never been able to obtain an answer about tampons and pads but I have heard in the past that they have an anticoagulant agent in them. I know there is something in tampons because the ones I have used for tinder stink like hell. So, they're not just cotton. Cotton don't smell like that when it burns. :)
 
Good patch kit Don.

Another brand of steristrips I've come accross is the nexcare brand. Walmart was selling them at a very good price but seems to have stopped carrying them. They actualy stay on...unlike some.

What do you think of the staple kits that are available?
 
Thanks for posting that. I have recently started assembling my version of Level 1 and Level 2 FAKs. I have spent a lot of time and money on ammo and training on how to make holes, I have not spent near enough time training how to fix them. It’s a work in progress.
 
wildmike said:
What do you think of the staple kits that are available?
Click to expand...

I think if a person can get a good one and has the cajones to pop them in, go for it! As long as they can keep everything clean by using a disinfectant. A quick pop of a staplegun has to hurt less and be more stable than self-suturing.
 
I'm going to have to look for the nex-care steri strips. The 3m ones don't stick to me very well.
thanks for posting - that's a good list for me to compare to my current setup. and update it.
 
1066vik said:
I'm going to have to look for the nex-care steri strips. The 3m ones don't stick to me very well.
thanks for posting - that's a good list for me to compare to my current setup. and update it.
Click to expand...

You know I use the Nex-Care band-aids because of how well they stick. If they make a butterfly type strip I bet it sticks pretty good.
 
1066vik said:
I'm going to have to look for the nex-care steri strips. The 3m ones don't stick to me very well.
thanks for posting - that's a good list for me to compare to my current setup. and update it.
Click to expand...

That's what the benzoin is for, bandage adhesion. Also try a cross strip or two perpendicular or diagonal to the primary closures. It's handy to build single wound kits with steri-strips, Tagaderm, gauze (4x4, 2x2, etc.), ampule of benzoin in a little zip lock. These can go in your FAK. It makes a grab and go for wounds so you don't have to go digging for the parts and pieces.
 
I'm pretty good at wound prep.
3m bandaids don't stick well to me, either. Nex-care does.
For that matter, many of the CA glues on the market peel off of my skin within minutes or hours - even after an alcohol wipe to strip off the surface skin oils. (this is very handy in the wood shop, so I don't have to keep a bottle of acetone around to unstick myself)
 
3M Steri-Strips and TegaDerm Dressings are a bit stickier than 3M Band-Aids, have you tried them?
 
the 3m steri strips I have used - or had applied in an ER - in the past all let go within 12 hours. I've had similar lack of luck with some brands of butterfly bandages in the past as well.
I have no experience with TegaDerm dressings, unless they were used by a medical professional.
OTOH, I had some bloodwork done yesterday and whatever brand of paper tape the lab uses is scary stuff -- I lost skin and hair when I peeled that stuff off!

I have had good luck with Nex-care bandages, both the fabric and the "waterproof" versions, so it may just be a difference in the adhesive, which is why I'm willing to try their steristrips and/or butterfly bandages if I can find them.
 
I guess you're the real teflon man. There are some various super strong/stick bandages out there to experiment with. I find paper tape to be sneaky over time. It starts out like it won't stick at all and then the adhesive slowly bonds very well.
 
There seems to be a trend to guide people away from readily available and proper gear and point them in the direction of fish hooks for sutures.
Click to expand...

People who give that advice worry me. I've come close to giving myself stitches before. I even had the emergency stitch kit, hemostats, alcohol, gauze, etc... out (the doctor my wife used to work for gave me all kinds of stuff!). Thank God the wound stopped bleeding (still have the scar on my middle finger that reminds how sharp obsidian can be).

The needles in those kits are amazingly thin and sharp. Nothing even close to a fishhook; even the stitches are like a super thin monofilament. I've looked a fishhook over and over and can't figure out how you'd get it to work. The eye would get hung up and cause a shitload of damage. If you clip the eye off (provided you are able to) you have no place to tie the thread. Then there's the barb.

The fishhook suture theory seems more like an armchair commando theory than a valid real-world practice. Not saying it can't be done, just saying I don't see how.
 
Is tagaderm anything like Compeed? I have used Compeed (sp?) for open wounds (after thorough washing), and it worked wonders. BAD abrasion on my finger, I mean took a couple of layers of skin off completely. It would not stop bleeding. So, after cleansing, I threw a Compeed strip on it. It swelled up with the blood underneath, looked like a big blood blister. But it stopped it from bleeding everywhere. Left it on for a couple of days, through shower and everything. When I took it off, best I remember, there was already a thin layer of skin had formed over the wound.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top